Chosen

“The sun sleeps on the mountains and the partridge in the woods. Let also my baby sleep. So, whisper to her but don’t wake her up. The sun sleeps on the mountains and the partridge in the snow.

Let also my daughter sleep on a bed of clean sheets. To nani nani, my baby to heal. To nani, nani, my baby to heal.”

Chapter 25

The intoxicating scent of lavender permeated my senses as I woke from my forced sleep. My body was immersed within a cloud of feathered pillows and blankets; doing their best to coax me back to sleep. Ignoring my body’s pleas to stay there forever, I opened my eyes to the dancing light of a candle in a foreign dark room. Panic seized my entire body, and I shot straight up in bed.

What alternate universe had I fallen into this time? Between all of my dream state abilities, I was beginning to wonder not so much where I was, but when I was. From what I could tell, my body and soul had been reunited. And I felt like I was in the present, but that really didn’t mean much. I searched my surroundings for any clues. The king-size four poster bed I was currently perched in was not familiar, nor were the thick damask curtains, walnut dresser, or various whimsical paintings of various island landscapes dotting the walls. I reached out with my essence (which I was hoping was still intact) to find nothing but cool peacefulness and the calming hum of the ceiling fan spinning above. I felt him before he stepped into the room, and the combination of both was almost too much.

I almost vaulted off the bed and into his arms when the bedroom door swung open, but the unforgiving stiffness of my muscles combined with the tenderness of my skin stopped me.

“Good Morning, Pasha.” Finn greeted me with the most adoring crooked grin I’d ever seen. I was instantly overcome by a massive wave of relief, love, and adoration…right before the wall of irrational shyness smacked me in the face. What was wrong with me? His widening grin told me that my schizo emotions were written all over my face, but it still sent my heart into overdrive. With an easy, confident stride he walked over to the bed and sat down carefully.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m…I’m not sure,” I answered with hesitation. I’d been in so much pain for so long, I couldn’t be sure if the pain was really gone or if it had just been numbed again. I pushed back the sheets and quickly took inventory of my body. The first thing I noticed, was that someone had replaced my previous attire of tank top and shorts with a cotton t-shirt and pajama bottoms. The next thing I noticed was the pink blotchy pigment of my skin, where it had literally been burned by Nadia’s evil smoke. I touched a spot on my arm lightly, and was surprised that although it was tender, it didn’t hurt at all.

“Who knew smoke could do this much damage…” I muttered, cynically inspecting my equally splotchy legs and stomach.

“Smoke?” Finn raised a dark eyebrow while his eyes sparkled with amusement.

“Nadia’s evil smoke.”

“Ah,” he chuckled. “You mean her vapor.”

“Smoke, vapor, demonic torture device…whatever,” I shrugged. I shook my head in disgust and then gasped as I noticed my other arm. My handiwork had closed up, but pink lines that read the words “Isle of Slaves’ were still clearly visible. I really hoped that it wouldn’t scar, because I wasn’t looking forward to wearing long sleeve shirts for the rest of my life.

“I see you decided to get a tattoo,” Finn joked with me lovingly. “Was your tattoo artist in elementary school, by chance?” He gently traced the pink lines that made up the harsh letters, and I shivered beneath his touch. A paralyzing shyness swept over me again and my eyes dropped back down to my skin. What was wrong with me? It was just Finn. The same Finn I had made love to the night before. Bingo. My face heated at my thoughts, and I tried to respond without tripping over my words.

“I’ll have you know that I spent countless waking hours perfecting my new body art,” I retorted with pride. His heartfelt eyes gazed directly into my soul, right down to the raw emotions and fears that made me who I really am.

“It was a genius idea,” he complimented me. The obvious adoration that shone from his blue eyes set free an entire flock of butterflies in my stomach. “Watching your body deteriorate, but not being able to find you or help you, was excruciating. It reminded me that our true strength comes out when our backs are against the wall.”

“I just did what I had to do,” I said quietly.

I broke his intense gaze and got busy inspecting my shoulder. I moved my arm in every direction, which resulted in no pain whatsoever. I would have to give Willow another big hug when I saw her again.

“So where are we?” I asked. All shyness dissipated as the memory of the last twenty four hours came rushing back to me.

“Mom brought us back to Lorelei,” he explained simply. “We’re at the new Maven’s house -

Zara’s house.”

“So she’s okay? What about the old man?”

“They’re both fine. Willow worked on healing him at Eventide while Mom conveyed us back here. They’ll all be landing in Wilmington in a couple of hours.”

“Tina….” At the mention of Eventide, Tina’s lifeless stare flashed before my eyes and despair coursed through my veins. “Why was she even there? Why did you bring her?”

“We had no idea it would end that way. She insisted on helping. She was the only who knew where the Isle was. She led us there - off the coast of Cyprus.”

“She swam that far?”

“She had the ability to breathe underwater...like us.” He sighed and I knew that her death weighed heavily on his heart as well. “I told her to stay hidden in the waves. She didn’t listen.”

“She shouldn’t have come at all.” I allowed the tears to flow down my cheeks at her loss.

“She came willingly,” Finn soothed me, but I could see the glistening of tears in his eyes as well. “She wanted to help save you. Without her…we wouldn’t have found you in time.”

“But she died for me, Finn! How could she be willing to die for me?” I demanded incredulously. “She barely knew me!”

“She proved what everyone else already knows.” He gently lifted my chin to meet his stern gaze and his voice dropped to a whisper. “You’re worth it.”

“She said that she believed in me,” I breathed, and then shook my head in defeat. “I watched her die, Finn. Just like that brave fish. Neither one of them thought twice about saving me…”

“A fish?” He raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Now this, I have to hear.”

I spent the next twenty minutes convincing Finn that I had, in fact, spent several hours surrounded by poisonous spiders, describing my wall-breaking ability, and detailing the fish who had sacrificed his own life for mine. It wasn’t as difficult to convince him of what Nadia and Keto’s true intentions had been. My thoughts drifted back to the old man.

“Do you think he’s related to me?” I asked as another possibility dawned on me. “Could he be…my dad?”

“I think there’s a very good chance he’s related to you,” he pondered. “But considering his age, I would guess a grandfather or great uncle? I’d also like to pick his brain about the Isle of Slaves, and the reason he was there.”

“We should probably make sure he’s feeling better before we interrogate him.” I giggled, but inside I wanted nothing more than to find out who he was.

“I have a feeling he’s stronger than you think; he lasted a long time on that island,” he informed me.

“Speaking of stronger than I thought,” I raised an eyebrow at him. “You didn’t tell me that the ability of sonic boom was in your bag of tricks.”

“My bag of tricks is an endless pit of awesomeness,” he winked at me. I rolled my eyes, but his gaze